Combined foot-rest and heater for motor-vehicles.



E. KNAUSS & F. H. PETIT M/TIRE. COM BINED FOO-T REST AND HEATER FOR MOTOR VEHICLESC APPLICATION FILED DEC. 29, I913. -2

Patented Apr. 6, 19-15;

2 SHEETS q vihleooao June" 015 E; KNAUSS & F. PE'TlT MAl RE. I COMBINED FOOT REST AND.HEATE R FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

' APPLICATION man nEc.29. 191s.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

2. SHEETS-SHEET 2-.

Evita mama 9 elevational view partly in section of the ens EDWARD KNAUSS, OF MELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS, AND FELIX I-I. PETITMAIRE, OF.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMBINED FOOT-REST HEATER FOR MOTORJVEHICLES. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed Deceinber29, 1913. Serial No. 809,386.

' To all whom it may concern:

-. county of Middle'sex, and State of Massachusetts, and the latter a citizen of France, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Implrovements .in Combined Foot-Rests and enters for Motor-Vehicles; and we do hereby declare the followingto he a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a combined foot I rest and heater especially adapted for use in' automobiles, and has for its object to provide an apparatus of this kind, which will be simplein construction, efficient in action, and more convenient in use than those heretofore proposed.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel details of con-- struction, and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosedand particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views :"Figure .1 is an elevational view partly broken away of an automobile provided with' our invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1 together with some additional parts not illustrated therein; Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of our combined foot .rest and heater de tached from theautomobile; Fig. 1 is an end parts shown in Fig. 3,.together with the connection with an exhaust pipe; and Fig. 5 is a detail view of the valve controlling our foot rest and heater 1 indicates the body of an automobile or other vehicle; 2, the engines thereof; and3, the exhaust pipe from said engines.v

In carrying out our invention we preferably out a hole, such as 4, in theexhaust pipe 3 and provide a coupling such connect ing said hole with the pipe 6 which feeds We also preferably provide a valve such as in the coupling 5 in order to out off the exhaust gases from the pipe 6 when desired. The

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

pipe16 may be of any desired construction, 1

but we find a flexible pipe very convenient for our purpose, and have so shown one of this nature in the drawings. This feed pipe 6 is joined as at 7 to the hollow base or support foot member 8 of our foot rest, which member is provided with the extensions or flanges 9 having the holes'lO by which itv may be secured to the floor of them-(whine, The said support or member 8 rises from the flanges 9, as best shown in Fig. 4, and is provided with a circular rim-like fiangell which tightly fits a corresponding groove in the horizontally extending member 12 of the hollow arm or support 13 for the foot rest member 15, as will be clear from Fig.3 of the drawings. I

Passing through the lower end of the hollow arm or support 13 and the base support or member 8 is the rod 16 provided at one end with the handle 17 and at the other end with the nut 18. The handle 17 is pro vided with a spring controlled catch .19

adapted to take in the depressions 20inthe.

face of the member 13, and to hold" said handle at any angular position to which it may be brought. Carried by the rodl6 and under the control of the handle 17 is the valve 21 adapted to control the ports 22lothe supporting arm or member 13, which passage in turn communicates with the passage 25 in the foot rest 15, all as will be clear from Fig. 3. The member 13 is providedwith a second horizontal extension 26 which snugly fits.thc interior of the foot rest 15, and a rod 27 passes through theupper end of said arm or support 13, and

througl-i the center oi? the foot rest 15 in order to hold the parts together, the said rod .27 being provided with the thread 28 and the nut 29 for this purpose. 1

i The supporting arms or members 13 are two in number, as illustrated in Fig. 3, and

either parts are duplicates of each other, as

will be clear from the drawings. The pipe- 3 carrying the exhaust gases to the bore 23 of the base member 8 may be attached to cither of the said base or. foot members 8,

and to the other of said base or foot memmeaevo 30 for the gases as connected on the right of said figure. There being no need for a valve, such as 21 in that end of the heater connected with the exhaust pipe 30, we merely pass a rod 31 through the parts in order to hold them together.

The opera in of our improved foot rest and heater is as follows :The members 8 being firmly secured to the floor of the automobile as by passing bolts or screws through the holes 10 in the flanges 9 of the members 8, the hollow arm-like supports 13 may be freely swung around'the rods 16 and 31 as centers, for the rim-like flanges 11 of the said members 8 freely move in their corresponding grooves 32 carried by the horizontal members 12 rigid with the arms 13. The members 11 and 32 thus formfigas tight joints which permit the ready. swing of the arms 13 and the foot rest 15 aroundthe said rods 16 and 31, as indicated in the full and dotted lines in Fig. 1. It results from this that when the member 15 is desired as a. foot rest, it may be swung in the full line position shown in Fig. 1, and when it isnot desired to use the same as a foot rest, it may be swung into its dotted line position toward the seat, whereupon the feet of the occupant will extend' beyond the same, and it will therefore be out of the way.

It will thus be seen that we have provided an apparatus which operates as a combined foot rest and. heater which does not interfere with the free passage of the exhaust gases from the engine to the mufller, should a mul'ller be employed. Further, it will be seen that it is not necessary to close any valve in the exhaust pipe to obtain heat in the radiator. In addition, the heat through the foot rest may be readily controlled by turning the handle 17 and thereby operating the valve 21. Since the exhaust pipe leads directly to the muflie-r While the passages leading to and through the foot rest 15 are deflected and more or less restricted, the lighter and cleaner gases are employed for-heat, while the heavier gases pass on to the muflier and through it to the air.

Our combined foot rest and heater saves fuel, in that it reduces the back pressure in the exhaust pipe. Further, owing to the fact that the back pressure in the exhaust pipe caused by the use of the mufller varies from a few ounces to several pounds de pending on the speed of the engine and the condition of the mufiier, by ailording another passage for the exhaust gases, as is the case .in our combined foot rest and heater, we are enabled to reduce the back pressure as above stated, and thereby render more power available for the operation of the car.

The member 15 of the foot rest being made of comparatively thin metal, as illus trated, radiates the heat very quickly .so that the occupant of the car does not have to wait for the heat after started. r

In addition to the above, the passages through the pipe 6 and the arms 13 are smaller than the passage through the member 15, sot the gases after they leave the exhaust pipe 3, pass through the enlarged foot which otherwise woud he produced are muffled, and its action is consequently noiseless.

The joints aflorded by the members 11 and 32 being gas tight, as well as the joints between the horizontal members 26 and the foot rest 15, no odors or exhaust gases can escape into the body of the car, so that the device is cleanly andodorless.

Owing to the fact that the exhaust gases may suddenly expand through this foot rest and into the atmosphere without passing through the muflier, a greater or less partial vacuum is produced in the exhaust pipe, and this partial acuum'induces a more rapid discharge through the exhaust ports of the motor. Accordingly, .in use, this foot rest and heater is found to act as a scavenger and to help keep the cylinders of the motor clean. Asonly waste heat is employed, the cost thereof is nothing.

These foot warmers and foot rests may be placed at any desired position in the car,

but it is preferred to have those in front of the car shorter than those in the rear, as indicated in Fig. 2 so that they will not interfere with the operation of the chaufi'eur.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction, as Well as the arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of our invention, and therefore we do not wish to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

' YVhat we claim is;

1. Tu a combined heater and ivoted foot rest for automobiles, the comblnation of a. hollow base support adapted tobe secured to the floor of the machine; a hollow arm support pivotally secured at one end to said. base support; a foot rest member secured at one end to the other end of said hollow arm support; a second hollow arm support to one'end of which the other end of said foot rest member is secured; a rod passing through said foot rest member and each of said hollow 'arm supports, to hold the parts together; a second base support ada ted to be secured to the floor of the mac line to the motor is rest and into the pipe 30, so that any sounds which the other end of said second hollow arm support is pivotally attached; and means for supplying hot gases to said parts, substantially as described.

2. In a combined heater and pivoted foot rest for automobiles the combination of a hollow base support adapted to be secured to the floor of the machine; a hollow arm; a pivotal connectionbetween said arm and said base support; arod passing through said base support and arm at said connectlon and provided with a handle having a controlling catch; a valve carried by said rod and controlled by said handle adapted to govern the passage of hot gases through said base support and said arm; a hollow foot rest member associated with said arm; and means for leading hot gases to said base support, substantially as described.

3. In a. combined heater and foot rest, the combination of a pair of hollow base supports adapted to be secured to the floor of an automobile; a supply pipe connected to one of said supports; an exhaust pipe connected to the other of said supports; a pair of hollow arms pivotally connected at one end with said base supports; a valve in the pivoted connection between one of said base supports and one of said arms; a hollow foot rest member connected to the other ends of said arms; and detachable means for holding said foot rest and arms together, substantially as described.

4. In a combined heater and foot rest the combination of a pair of hollow. base supports connected to "the floor of an automobile; :1 pair of hollow arms pivotally connected at one end tosaid base supports; a foot rest member having an enlarged hollow chamber to act as a mufiler detachably attached to the other ends of said hollow arms; means for readily connecting one of said'base supports to the exhaust pipe of the engine; means for leading oil the exhaust gases from the other of sald base sup-i tachably connected to the other ends of said arms; and a rod passing through said foot rest member and arms, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures, in presence of two witnesses. ED'XVA RD KNAUSS. FELIX H. PETITMATRE. Witnesses:

T. A. WITHERSPOQN, Jas. H. BLAOKWOOD. 

